Post date: 23-Nov-2009 09:57:45
What Simon and the other Chaplains have created is nothing short of a miracle. Coming to university, you don't expect to find a group of people you fit right into and with whom you just feel at home - seriously like you belong.
I was a mess when I started uni but was suggested to go to the Chaplaincy because it was 'a really nice place' - what an understatement that turned out to be. I met Simon and Catherine (Catholic chaplain) on my first visit and was immediately struck by how friendly and welcoming they were, and how they clearly cared so much about students. At that moment, scared and in floods of tears, glancing sidewways at my mum every few seconds to make any decision that came my way, I saw them as parent figures, which is what I needed then; now, they are most definately my friends. It was at that moment that a large part of my fear of starting uni slipped away - it felt like a safe place. Since then I've made some of my very best friends there, people I can't imagine my life without.
The community at Chaplaincy is just so incredibly special. People feel at ease and know they can be themselves among understanding, genuine friends. Not dissimilar to a 6th form common room, people pop in to meet friends, work, kill 20 minutes between lectures with a cup of tea or talk to Chaplains about anything, faith or no faith. And of course there are the many groups and societies that use the building as a meeting space.
But it is not only the times when you are in the building that make the Chaplaincy so valuable to the University community. Simply knowing that such a place exists on campus, minutes from the lecture theatre, where you can go and talk to a friendly pair of ears (or 10) about anything that is bothering you or what has gone right for you, is such an immense comfort. The work of the chaplains in building such a wonderful, close-knit, loving community - into which LITERALLY ANYONE is welcome, is awesome. The thought of closing it down and denying the current and future students such an amazing resource...well, it seems quite absurd.